Here’s Sid Lowe’s match report.
The Madrid derby ends in an honourable draw. It was a fairly uneventful game, although Jan Oblak made one outstanding save from Karim Benzema. Thomas Partey and Toni Kroos were great in midfield, but both attacks struggled. Thanks for your company - goodnight.
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Full time: Atletico Madrid 0-0 Real Madrid
Peep peep!
90+2 min Diego Costa is limping heavily. Atletico have used all their subs.
90+1 min There will be three minutes of added time.
90 min Diego Costa’s looping header, from Lemar’s corner, is easily claimed by Courtois.
89 min A draw would be a fair result. There has been very little between the sides.
88 min Luka Jovic comes on for Real to replace Karim Benzema.
87 min Real are finishing the stronger, although Atletico look as solid defensively as ever. Nacho shoots over from 35 yards.
85 min “Thomas has been quite great, hasn’t he?” says Ruth Purdue.
He looks so good. Apparently his release clause is 50m euros, which is absurd. He would improve pretty much every team in the world.
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82 min Thomas plays a cute pass into Correa, who spins Ramos neatly and finds Trippier on the right. His fast cross is volleyed wide by Koke, just in front of the near post. It was a half-chance, no more, but that was a lovely move from Atletico. Thomas has been so impressive.
81 min A draw would move Real back to the top of La Liga, a point ahead of Granada and Atletico.
😬 Benzema goes as close to scoring as anyone has so far in this game!
— Premier Sports 📺 (@PremierSportsTV) September 28, 2019
🖐 Great save from Jan Oblak to keep Atletico on level terms pic.twitter.com/1NSqqGa6GS
78 min Atletico appeal unsuccessfully for a penalty when Angel Correa goes over after a shoulder charge from Sergio Ramos. It was a risky challenge, but not strong enough for a penalty to be given.
77 min Eden Hazard, who looks shattered, is replaced by James Rodriguez.
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75 min: Brilliant save from Oblak! Real kept the ball for an age, moving it left and right. Eventually Nacho whipped an inswinging cross towards the penalty spot, where Benzema rose highest to flick a beautifully timed header towards the bottom corner. Oblak plunged to his left and stretched to make a desperate save with his left hand. He is such a good shot-stopper.
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72 min Saul’s flicked header, from Koke’s near-post corner, flashes just over the bar. That was a fine effort.
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71 min Bale stabs a superb pass to find Modric on the right of the area. He drives an even better low cross that flies across the six-yard box and behind for a goalkick. Real needed a six-yard sniffer like Micky Quinn there; instead they had Karim Benzema lurking on the fringes.
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70 min That’s Joao Felix’s last touch - he’s replaced by the former Real player Marcos Llorente.
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69 min Varane is booked for sending Joao Felix to the canvas with a nasty tackle from behind.
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68 min Real bring on Luka Modric for Fede Valverde.
67 min Kroos drives a long pass to Carvajal, who wins a corner off Saul. Real make a complete Horlicks of the corner.
63 min Kroos is needlessly fouled by Partey, 30 yards from goal. The free-kick is slightly to the left of centre ... and Casemiro bullets it over the bar.
61 min Another Atletico change - Thomas Lemar replaces Renan Lodi, so Saul goes to left-back.
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57 min: Bale misses Real’s best chance! Hazard played a nice pass down the left to Nacho, who screwed a low cross into the area. It was behind Benzema but ran perfectly into the path of Bale, who walloped a first-time shot into orbit from 15 yards.
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55 min Bale has a pop from 30 yards. Goal kick.
53 min Benzema and Bale look well off the pace. Hazard has been threatening, and Kroos has played with his usual unobtrusive excellence, but that aside Real haven’t offered much in the final third.
51 min For the umpteenth time tonight, Thomas drives a long pass to find Trippier in space. His cross is blocked. Thomas has had a storming game; his passing, short and long, has been especially good.
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49 min Atletico have started the second half strongly. Costa flips a neat pass over the defence to find the substitute Correa, who mistimes a header that goes well wide. It was a half chance at best.
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47 min Apparently Simeone was fuming because Sergio Ramos abused the assistant referee. Simeone claims Ramos used the same phrase - about defecating on his “prostitute mother” - that got Diego Costa an eight-match ban last season.
46 min Peep peep! Real begin the second half. Atletico have made a substitution, with Angel Correa replacing Vitolo.
Diego Simeone wasn’t sent off, though he was told off by the referee for something or other.
Half-time reading
Half time: Atletico Madrid 0-0 Real Madrid
Peep peep! There is a suggestion that Diego Simeone has been sent off by the referee. As for the football, it was a relatively uneventful half, with no clear chances for either side. See you in 10 minutes for the second half.
44 min Another fine pass from Thomas allows Trippier to surge into a huge gap on the right wing. He looks up, considers his options and threads a low cross towards Koke, lurking in front of an open goal at the far post. Courtois dives to his right to palm the ball away at full stretch. It won’t go down as a save but that was a superb and vital bit of goalkeeping.
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40 min Kroos works Oblak again from distance, this time with a low, first-time curler. I think it would have hit the outside of the post but Oblak played safe, palming it behind for a corner.
39 min After lovely play from Thomas, Joao Felix cracks a fine low shot from 20 yards that flashes just wide of the far post.
38 min That, in fact, was the first shot on target in the match. It hasn’t been a classic.
37 min Kroos’s sudden long-range shot is saved at the second attempt by Oblak, sprawling to his left. It was a decent save, no more or less.
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33 min Vitolo wins a corner for Atletico, who are having a good little spell. Trippier whips it towards the near post and it’s headed away.
30 min Thomas, found by Trippier on the right, drives a stunning low cross that flashes right across the six-yard box. The stretching Diego Costa just failed to reach it in front of an open goal, and then got up appealing for a penalty. There was nothing in it.
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27 min Real win three corners in the space of 30 seconds. The third, from Kroos, is noggined away by Trippier.
26 min Real are looking increasingly dangerous, especially on the counter-attack. Atletico need Diego Costa to pick a fight to get the crowd going again.
24 min “‘Ramos leaves a snide one on Diego Costa’, you say?” sniffs Matt Dony. “I’m surprised. It’s not like either of those two to get involved in any poo-housery. Also, Martin Blank is very much the ideal I aspire to. In my top five films. Genius.”
It’s in my top three, so I win. Bing bing bang, popcorn that.
23 min A gorgeous pass from Valverde releases Hazard on the left. He moves into the area, slips Savic and hits a cross that takes a deflection and goes behind for a corner on the other side.
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22 min Nacho is booked for flattening Trippier.
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17 min Nacho’s inswinging cross is headed behind by Lodi, under a lot of pressure from Bale. A goalkick is given but I’m sure the last touch was Lodi’s.
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16 min Diego Simeone is patrolling the touchline, dressed like Martin Blank. The game hasn’t really got going yet, with that half-chance for Joao Felix the only incident of note.
13 min Ramos leaves a snide one on Diego Costa, a questionable tactic with 77 minutes still to play.
12 min Real have been the better team in the last few minutes. Hazard is taking up some dangerous positions.
10 min Bale shoots from 30 yards. It’s a mess.
9 min Real are fuming that Trippier has not been booked for a cynical foul on Hazard, and rightly so. Mind you, Ramos should have been booked a few minutes ago as well.
8 min The first chance for Atletico. Diego Costa, in his own half, lobs a simple ball through the inside-right channel for Joao Felix. He scoots into the area, far too quick for Sergio Ramos, but the angle is fairly tight and he drags his shot wide of the far post.
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7 min Real have their first spell of possession in the Atletico half. You don’t need to be looking at the screen to know when Sergio Ramos is on the ball.
6 min Trippier is back on and seems okay. Real have been camped in their half since the match started. I’m sure they have crossed the halfway line, but I can’t remember it.
5 min Joao Felix slips Sergio Ramos with a lovely nutmeg and is flattened for his impudence. Ramos waves him to his feet, but it was a clear foul and he should probably have been booked.
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5 min It was an accidental challenge from Hazard, who was looking the other way and had no idea Trippier was behind him.
4 min Trippier is down after the backpedalling Hazard landed on his right foot. This doesn’t look good.
2 min Trippier’s first involvement in a Madrid derby is a cross from the right that is volleyed away by Sergio Ramos. Real haven’t crossed the halfway line yet.
1 min Peep peep! Atletico get the match under way, kicking from left to right.
There’s a glorious noise all around the Metropolitano Stadium as the players emerge from the tunnel.
Team news
Atletico Madrid (4-4-2) Oblak; Trippier, Savic, Gimenez, Renan Lodi; Saul, Thomas, Koke, Vitolo; Joao Felix, Diego Costa.
Substitutes: Herrera, Lemar, Arias, Felipe, Adan, Llorente, Correa.
Real Madrid (4-3-3) Courtois; Carvajal, Ramos, Varane, Nacho; Kroos, Casemiro, Valverde; Bale, Benzema, Hazard.
Substitutes: Eder Militao, Vinicius, Areola, Jovic, James, Modric, Lucas Vazquez.
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Preamble
Hello. There have been some monstrous Madrid derbies in the Simeone years. This isn’t quite at the top of the list - it’s not a Champions League final for a start - but it does feel bigger than usual. Not only will the winner, if there is one, overtake Granada and go top of La Liga; they will also make a statement of title-winning intent.
With the usual champions Barcelona looking vulnerable away from home, today’s victory at Getafe notwithstanding, there is at least the potential for a new winner of La Liga.
In the meantime, it never hurts to turn over your local rivals. For Atletico, who plugged Real 7-3 in a pre-season match in New Jersey, victory would be especially sweet. They have won only once at home to Real in the league in the last 20 years, but they go into tonight’s match in fine mood. Whatever happens, Saturday night in Madrid will not be dull.
Kick off is at 8pm.
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